Given the situation, we didn't really have any other option but to follow the recipient girl into the depths of this enormous tower. At first, it didn't seem like a bad choice given how this was most likely some standard procedures, but when I noticed that Makay actually stood by the side and was only willing to send us off with a smile, I realised that the situation might not be as simple as it appeared to be right now.

"Excuse me, but why is our friend and guide remaining here? Given how little we know about this entire place, and how little of trust I personally put in the worthiness of spending my time here instead of using it to better myself, I honestly believe it would be… for the best if we could remain close."

It wasn't as if Makay's words about the powerful entities that lived and worked within this tower would scare me. I simply couldn't afford to take any unnecessary risks. After all, if this was all nothing but a ploy of this small lord to escape from my grasp while pushing me, and what was actually the axis of my conflict with the situation, my woman into a potential trap, allowing him to stay back would be akin to letting go of the only hostage that I was sure that I could best without all that much problems!

In fact, no matter how much I strained all forms of my perception, I failed to notice a single being around me that could pose any threat to me or Eve, not to speak about our force combined. While I couldn't disregard the option that the true powerhouses of this place could simply mask their presence from the perception abilities of the level of those that I possessed, I found it highly dubious that the people that received their entire growth on a silver platter of their respective systems would ever bother to learn about other kinds of using the energy that they were discarding so willingly, just so that they could learn how different forms of perceptions work and how to protect against detection with their use!

"I'm sorry, sir, but only the newcomers can be granted entry to the testing hall. It's not some kind of elaborate plot to do harm to you or your companion, but a stupid flaw of the design. Given how it was built in the times when its creators faced huge crowds willing to take those tests at any given moment, it was built with streamlining the entire process. That's why, as soon as your respective tests will be concluded, you will be forcefully kicked away from the testing grounds… by the protective array that has most of its system included in itself. From this, you should understand that even if your second partner were to follow us into the testing grounds, he would end up instantly teleported to the waiting room, only sparking a fire of panic with this kind of unexpected behaviour. That's how we learned long ago that allowing the third parties to simply go to the waiting area by foot is relatively… Less alarming method of dealing with this kind of situations."

As the girl explained the reasons behind her refusal, I couldn't help but feel like some damned stupid student from the back row of the class that the teacher had to waste his or hers time on just to explain the most basic stuff personally. There was no hint of joy or anger in this beautiful guide's voice. Her tone itself, slightly annoyed by the need of explaining what was most likely the baseline of the knowledge that one should possess even before reaching this town, didn't hold any signs that would indicate that there was some kind of deeper plot going on underneath of what was officially happening.

"Eh… Okay then. At least I hope it won't be a problem to enter those testing grounds you mentioned together? While you might find that rare… Or who am I lying to? In such a big city, I can bet that there are loads of people that used double cultivation to reach their immortal level, am I right?"

Sensing the tone of slight annoyance in our guide's voice as we followed in her steps through the long corridors of the building, I decided that a tiny sprinkle of asslicking wouldn't hurt anyone. In the end, no matter how powerful one was, the inner workings of human psyche were generally the same, allowing me to hope that this tiny amount of praise that I included in my sentence about the city would be enough to fix the bad impression that my rash attitude had to create in the guide's mind.

"That's… Well, I can't say that there is a lot of them, but given how… problematic bunch they are, I obviously heard about dual cultivation practitioners. If that's the case, then I think a smaller but more private testing ground would be more suitable for your tests, dear sir."

Contrary to what I wanted to achieve with my words, the beautiful guide didn't seem to be surprised by the question but rather… slightly flustered? Maybe there was some kind of dark legend going about the shady practices of dual cultivators in the town that managed to tingle her fetishes?

Looking back in my own past, I could tell that the time where I slept with… more than just Eve alone, were indeed filled with all sorts of kinky plays. Using the enemies that dared to attack me, turning a poor receptionist that didn't have as much luck as I had with the innate gifts into basically a willing sex slave… Even if those young times of mine in this world didn't affect my reputation given how it was now buried in the ash that remained of the city where I first showcased the full extend of my power, it didn't change the fact that I was perfectly conscious about my dirty exploits of that time. If I were to additionally take the fact that I wasn't even a fully-fledged dual cultivator into account, then the slight blush that appeared on the guide's cheeks when she heard my question would be more than reasonable.

"Okay, dear sirs. We have arrived at the testing grounds. Given your request, no one should bother you inside this room. Once the doors will close behind you, I need one of you to use all your force to hit the marked target in the middle of the room, then the other one, and lastly, you are free to use any… dual cultivation techniques that you want to empower yourself before attacking it with your full force again. After that, a new set of doors will appear on the other end of the room. Even though you will be teleported away from it either way as soon as the test concludes, I can promise you that leaving through those doors will be far more… comfortable than using those unstable and freaky teleports that the second-grade transporters built into those less-popular testing rooms."

The more our guide spoke about matters that had some ties with the dual cultivation that I mentioned, the more her cheeks covered with blush, making it hard even for me to move my eyes away from her cute face. Only the prospect of Eve's wrath that could be irked by my actions and the actual curiosity about what was inside the testing room allowed me to stop staring at the guide and actually look at the only thing that could save me from that adorableness.

And it was Eve's face.

Thankfully, maybe she was immersed in the introduction presented by the guide, or maybe she was too curious about the test to pay any mind to the strange targets of my attention, but she didn't seem to be infuriated by how rude my behaviour was towards her. Or maybe, she actually didn't mind it at all, given all those times where she was the one to initiate the increase of the party that would participate in our carnal activities above the standard limit of just two!

"Let's go in. Ther is no point in wasting time here."

Staring intensely at the doors in front of us, Eve was actually the one to hold my hand a bit tighter and pull me towards the entrance. Pleasantly surprised by my woman taking the initiative for the first time in a while, I could only follow her obediently.

After all, trusting her current decision to participate in this test was the absolute minimum that I should do after all the sacrifices that she made for me so far!"